KEYSWITCH
A keyswitch includes a circuit board, a bottom board abutting against the circuit board, a cap, a light receiver and a light emitter disposed on the circuit board and opposite to each other, a base disposed on the circuit board, a cover disposed on the base, a first elastic member disposed through the cover and the base, a support device, and a second elastic member fixed to the base and having a flexible rod. The support device is movably connected to the cap and bottom board and has a sheet structure. When the cap is pressed, the sheet structure blocks light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal. When the cap is pressed to make the flexible rod deform downward with the sheet structure and then cross the sheet structure, the flexible rod is released to collide with the cover to make sound.
The present invention relates to a keyswitch, and more specifically, to a keyswitch utilizing a sheet structure of a support device to press a flexible rod of an elastic member for providing a tactile feedback and for blocking light transmission between a light emitter and a light receiver to generate a triggering signal.
2. Description of the Prior ArtA keyboard, which is the most common input device, could be found in variety of electronic apparatuses for users to input characters, symbols, numerals and so on. Furthermore, from consumer electronic products to industrial machine tools, they are all equipped with a keyboard for performing input operations.
In practical application, for efficiently increasing the triggering accuracy and solving the problem that switch components of a mechanical keyswitch is easily abraded and the related welding process is complicated, an optical triggering design has been developed to replace the mechanical keyswitch triggering design. The conventional optical triggering design involves disposing a light emitter and a light receiver opposite to each other to be located between a cap and a bottom board and utilizing an optical member to conduct or block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver, so as to achieve the triggering purpose.
Furthermore, the keyswitch could further adopt the clicky tactile feedback design. The clicky tactile feedback design usually involves additionally disposing a flexible acoustic member in the keyswitch to interfere with a rib of a sleeve of the keyswitch. Accordingly, when a user presses the keyswitch, the rib presses the flexible acoustic member to deform, and then the flexible acoustic member crosses the rib to generate a tactile feedback or further collides with an internal member of the keyswitch to make sound.
However, in the practical application adopting the aforesaid optical triggering and clicky tactile feedback designs, time difference between keyswitch triggering and tactile feedback (keyswitch triggering is usually designed to be later than tactile feedback) is inconsistent because the optical member and the rib are disposed at the different positions, so as to provide a user with an inconsistent pressing feeling when the user presses the cap at different positions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a keyswitch. The keyswitch includes a circuit board, a bottom board, a cap, a light receiver, a light emitter, a base, a cover, a first elastic member, a second elastic member, and a support device. The bottom board abuts against the circuit board. The cap is located above the bottom board. The light receiver is disposed on the circuit board. The light emitter is disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver. The base is disposed on the circuit board. The cover is disposed on the base. The first elastic member is disposed through the cover and the base to drive the cap away from the base. The second elastic member is fixed to the base. The second elastic member has a flexible rod. The support device is disposed between the cap and bottom board. The support device includes a first support member and a second support member. The first support member and the second support member are movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersect with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board. The first support member has a sheet structure. The sheet structure has a protruding rib and a shielding board extending toward the circuit board. When the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal. When the cap is pressed and deformation of the flexible rod caused by pressing of the protruding rib is enough to make the flexible rod cross the protruding rib, the flexible rod is released and then moves upward to collide with the cover to make sound.
The present invention further provides a keyswitch. The keyswitch includes a circuit board, a bottom board, a cap, a light receiver, a light emitter, a base, a cover, a first elastic member, a second elastic member, and a support device. The bottom board abuts against the circuit board. The cap is located above the bottom board. The light receiver is disposed on the circuit board. The light emitter is disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver. The base is disposed on the circuit board. The second elastic member is fixed to the base. The second elastic member has a flexible rod. The cover is disposed on the base. A first guiding surface structure and a second guiding surface structure are formed on the cover and the base respectively corresponding to the flexible rod and are separate from each other to cooperatively form a limiting rail. The flexible rod is movably inserted into the limiting rail. The first elastic member is disposed through the cover and the base to drive the cap away from the base. The support device is disposed between the cap and bottom board. The support device includes a first support member and a second support member. The first support member and the second support member are movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersect with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board. The first support member has a sheet structure. The sheet structure has a protruding rib and a shielding board extending toward the circuit board. When the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal. When the cap is pressed and the flexible rod is pressed by the protruding rib, the flexible rod crosses the protruding rib along the limiting rail.
The present invention further provides a keyswitch. The keyswitch includes a circuit board, a bottom board, a cap, a light receiver, a light emitter, a base, a cover, an elastic member, and a support device. The bottom board abuts against the circuit board. The cap is located above the bottom board. The light receiver is disposed on the circuit board. The light emitter is disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver. The base is disposed on the circuit board. The cover is disposed on the base. The elastic member is disposed through the base and the cover for driving the cap away from the base. The support device is disposed between the cap and bottom board. The support device includes a first support member and a second support member. The first support member and the second support member are movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersect with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board. The first support member has a sheet structure. The sheet structure has a shielding board extending toward the circuit board. The bottom board has a hollow region corresponding to the support device. At least one limiting block extends inwardly and horizontally from a first internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the second support member connected to the bottom board. When the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal. When the cap is pressed and the end of the second support member partially enters the hollow region, the at least one limiting block blocks the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board.
The present invention further provides a keyswitch. The keyswitch includes a circuit board, a bottom board, a cap, a light emitting unit, an elastic member and a support device. The circuit board abuts against the bottom board. The cap has a scattering block disposed on a bottom surface of the cap. The elastic member is disposed between the cap and the bottom board. The light emitting unit is disposed on the circuit board. Light emitted by the light emitting unit passes through the scattering block. The support device is disposed between the bottom board and the cap to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
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Via the aforesaid design, the keyswitch 10 can provide a clicky tactile feedback with a click sound when the user presses the cap 16. To be more specific, please refer to
Please refer to
On the other hand, when the external force is released, the first elastic member 22 can drive the cap 16 from the presses position as shown in
In summary, since the protruding rib of the flexible rod for pressing the elastic member and the shielding board for blocking the light transmission are both formed on the sheet structure of the first support structure, the present invention can efficiently solve the prior art problem that there exists an inconsistent time difference between keyswitch triggering and tactile feedback because the optical member and the protruding rib are disposed at the different positions. That is, via the design in which the tactile feedback effect and the light triggering effect can be generated by the sheet structure of the first support member, the keyswitch of the present invention can provide a consistent time difference between keyswitch triggering and tactile feedback when the user presses the cap.
In practical application, the present invention could further adopt the light emitting design. For example, please refer to
It should be mentioned that the present invention could adopt the design that the keyswitch only provides a clicky tactile feedback. Please refer to
Via the aforesaid design, when the cap 16 is pressed by the external force and the first support member 34 rotates downward to make the protruding rod 114 press the flexible rod 32, the flexible rod 32 abuts against the protruding rod 114 and moves long the limiting rail 110 from a position as shown in
Moreover, the present invention could adopt the design that the elastic member is omitted. In brief, in another embodiment that the elastic member is omitted, the keyswitch could include the circuit board, the bottom board, the cap, the base, the cover, the elastic member (preferably a spring, but not limited thereto), the support device, the light receiver, and the light emitter. The elastic member is disposed through the base and the cover. The elastic member drives the cap away from the cap to generate the automatic returning effect. The bottom board has a hollow region corresponding to the support device. The first support member and the second support member are movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersect with each other. At least one limiting block extends inwardly and horizontally from a first internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the second support member connected to the bottom board. As such, when the cap is pressed and the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board partially enters the hollow region, the limiting block can block the second support member to prevent the second support member from sliding laterally relative to the bottom board during rotation of the first support member and the second support member, so as to improve the pressing steadiness of the cap. Furthermore, since the flexible rod is omitted, the keyswitch can provide a non-clicky tactile feedback without a click sound when the user presses the cap. As for the related description for the other designs of the aforesaid keyswitch (e.g. the base structural design and the light emitting design), it could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A keyswitch comprising:
- a circuit board;
- a bottom board abutting against the circuit board;
- a cap located above the bottom board;
- a light receiver disposed on the circuit board;
- a light emitter disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver;
- a base disposed on the circuit board;
- a cover disposed on the base;
- a first elastic member disposed through the cover and the base to drive the cap away from the base;
- a second elastic member fixed to the base, the second elastic member having a flexible rod; and
- a support device disposed between the cap and bottom board, the support device comprising a first support member and a second support member, the first support member and the second support member being movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersecting with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board, the first support member having a sheet structure, the sheet structure having a protruding rib and a shielding board extending toward the circuit board;
- wherein when the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal;
- when the cap is pressed and deformation of the flexible rod caused by pressing of the protruding rib is enough to make the flexible rod cross the protruding rib, the flexible rod is released and then moves upward to collide with the cover to make sound.
2. The keyswitch of claim 1, wherein the bottom board has a hollow region corresponding to the support device, the first support member is slidably connected to the cap and is pivoted to the bottom board, and the second support member is slidably connected to the bottom board and is pivoted to the cap; when the cap is pressed, an end of the second support member connected to the bottom board partially enters the hollow region during rotation of the first support member and the second support member.
3. The keyswitch of claim 2, wherein at least one limiting block extends inwardly and horizontally from a first internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board; when the cap is pressed and the end of the second support member partially enters the hollow region, the at least one limiting block blocks the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board.
4. The keyswitch of claim 3, wherein a first abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward the first internal edge of the hollow region, a second abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward a second internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the first support member pivoted to the bottom board, and the first abutting board and the second abutting board abut against the first internal edge and the second internal edge respectively to fix the bottom board in the hollow region.
5. The keyswitch of claim 1, wherein a scattering block protrudes from a bottom surface of the cap toward the first elastic member, the first elastic member jackets the scattering block, and the keyswitch comprises:
- a light emitting unit disposed on the circuit board corresponding to the first elastic member, light emitted by the light emitting unit passing through the first elastic member, being incident into the scattering block, and then being emitted out of the cap via scattering of the scattering block.
6. The keyswitch of claim 5, wherein the scattering block comprises a plurality of arc-shaped blocks arranged alternately.
7. The keyswitch of claim 5, wherein the scattering block has an outer ring pad portion and an inner ring connection portion, and the first elastic member jackets the inner ring connection portion and abuts against the outer ring pad portion to be separate from the bottom surface.
8. The keyswitch of claim 1, wherein a cover structure is formed on the base corresponding to the light receiver, and the cover structure covers the light receiver and has an opening formed thereon to allow the light emitted by the light emitter to be incident to the light receiver through the opening.
9. A keyswitch comprising:
- a circuit board;
- a bottom board abutting against the circuit board;
- a cap located above the bottom board;
- a light receiver disposed on the circuit board;
- a light emitter disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver;
- a base disposed on the circuit board;
- a second elastic member fixed to the base, the second elastic member having a flexible rod;
- a cover disposed on the base, a first guiding surface structure and a second guiding surface structure being formed on the cover and the base respectively corresponding to the flexible rod and being separate from each other to cooperatively form a limiting rail, the flexible rod being movably inserted into the limiting rail;
- a first elastic member disposed through the cover and the base to drive the cap away from the base; and
- a support device disposed between the cap and bottom board, the support device comprising a first support member and a second support member, the first support member and the second support member being movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersecting with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board, the first support member having a sheet structure, the sheet structure having a protruding rib and a shielding board extending toward the circuit board;
- wherein when the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal;
- when the cap is pressed and the flexible rod is pressed by the protruding rib, the flexible rod crosses the protruding rib along the limiting rail.
10. The keyswitch of claim 9, wherein the bottom board has a hollow region corresponding to the support device, the first support member is slidably connected to the cap and is pivoted to the bottom board, and the second support member is slidably connected to the bottom board and is pivoted to the cap; when the cap is pressed, an end of the second support member connected to the bottom board partially enters the hollow region during rotation of the first support member and the second support member.
11. The keyswitch of claim 10, wherein at least one limiting block extends inwardly and horizontally from a first internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board; when the cap is pressed and the end of the second support member partially enters the hollow region, the at least one limiting block blocks the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board.
12. The keyswitch of claim 11, wherein a first abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward the first internal edge of the hollow region, a second abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward a second internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the first support member pivoted to the bottom board, and the first abutting board and the second abutting board abut against the first internal edge and the second internal edge respectively to fix the bottom board in the hollow region.
13. The keyswitch of claim 9, wherein a scattering block protrudes from a bottom surface of the cap toward the first elastic member, the first elastic member jackets the scattering block, and the keyswitch comprises:
- a light emitting unit disposed on the circuit board corresponding to the first elastic member, light emitted by the light emitting unit passing through the first elastic member, being incident into the scattering block, and then being emitted out of the cap via scattering of the scattering block.
14. The keyswitch of claim 13, wherein the scattering block comprises a plurality of arc-shaped blocks arranged alternately.
15. The keyswitch of claim 13, wherein the scattering block has an outer ring pad portion and an inner ring connection portion, and the first elastic member jackets the inner ring connection portion and abuts against the outer ring pad portion to be separate from the bottom surface.
16. The keyswitch of claim 9, wherein a cover structure is formed on the base corresponding to the light receiver, and the cover structure covers the light receiver and has an opening formed thereon to allow the light emitted by the light emitter to be incident to the light receiver through the opening.
17. A keyswitch comprising:
- a circuit board;
- a bottom board abutting against the circuit board;
- a cap located above the bottom board;
- a light receiver disposed on the circuit board;
- a light emitter disposed on the circuit board and opposite to the light receiver for emitting light to the light receiver;
- a base disposed on the circuit board;
- a cover disposed on the base;
- an elastic member disposed through the base and the cover for driving the cap away from the base; and
- a support device disposed between the cap and bottom board, the support device comprising a first support member and a second support member, the first support member and the second support member being movably connected to the cap and the bottom board and pivotably intersecting with each other to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board, the first support member having a sheet structure, the sheet structure having a shielding board extending toward the circuit board, the bottom board having a hollow region corresponding to the support device, at least one limiting block extending inwardly and horizontally from a first internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the second support member connected to the bottom board;
- wherein when the cap is pressed, the shielding board moves downward with the first support member to block light transmission between the light emitter and the light receiver to generate a triggering signal;
- when the cap is pressed and the end of the second support member partially enters the hollow region, the at least one limiting block blocks the end of the second support member connected to the bottom board.
18. The keyswitch of claim 17, wherein a first abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward the first internal edge of the hollow region, a second abutting board extends horizontally from the bottom board toward a second internal edge of the hollow region corresponding to an end of the first support member pivoted to the bottom board, and the first abutting board and the second abutting board abut against the first internal edge and the second internal edge respectively to fix the bottom board in the hollow region.
19. The keyswitch of claim 17, wherein a scattering block protrudes from a bottom surface of the cap toward the first elastic member, the first elastic member jackets the scattering block, and the keyswitch comprises:
- a light emitting unit disposed on the circuit board corresponding to the first elastic member, light emitted by the light emitting unit passing through the first elastic member, being incident into the scattering block, and then being emitted out of the cap via scattering of the scattering block.
20. The keyswitch of claim 19, wherein the scattering block comprises a plurality of arc-shaped blocks arranged alternately.
21. The keyswitch of claim 19, wherein the scattering block has an outer ring pad portion and an inner ring connection portion, and the first elastic member jackets the inner ring connection portion and abuts against the outer ring pad portion to be separate from the bottom surface.
22. The keyswitch of claim 17, wherein a cover structure is formed on the base corresponding to the light receiver, and the cover structure covers the light receiver and has an opening formed thereon to allow the light emitted by the light emitter to be incident to the light receiver through the opening.
23. A keyswitch comprising:
- a bottom board;
- a circuit board abutting against the bottom board;
- a cap having a scattering block disposed on a bottom surface of the cap;
- an elastic member disposed between the cap and the bottom board;
- a light emitting unit disposed on the circuit board, light emitted by the light emitting unit passing through the scattering block; and
- a support device disposed between the bottom board and the cap to make the cap movable relative to the bottom board.
24. The keyswitch of claim 23, wherein the scattering block protrudes from the bottom surface of the cap toward the elastic member, and the elastic member jackets the scattering block.
25. The keyswitch of claim 24, wherein the scattering block comprises a plurality of arc-shaped blocks arranged alternately.
26. The keyswitch of claim 23, wherein the scattering block has an outer ring pad portion and an inner ring connection portion, and the first elastic member jackets the inner ring connection portion and abuts against the outer ring pad portion to be separate from the bottom surface.
27. The keyswitch of claim 23, wherein the scattering block is located at a center position of the cap.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 20, 2020
Publication Date: Jul 30, 2020
Patent Grant number: 11223357
Inventors: Yu-Chun Hsieh (Taoyuan City), Chen Yang (Taoyuan City), Chia-Hung Liu (Taoyuan City)
Application Number: 16/746,997